can the bass even be heard on the systems most people use?

chuck3 · #1 08-05-2011, 06:51 PM

I gig live a lot, and do recording with headphones a lot, and you can bet that you can hear the bass in both those situations. But when I listen the way a lot of regular people do, like on a laptop's speakers or cheap car speakers, it's like you can hardly hear the bass at all. This is not some brilliant observation; I grew up with transistor radios back when and they certainly had no bass response. But what's the answer? EQ when you record so that it sounds like another guitar? Accept that you're irrelevant 50% of the time? Buy an active bass that infiltrates the electronics of the entire world?

N.F.A. · #2 08-05-2011, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck3

Buy an active bass that infiltrates the electronics of the entire world?

Could you explain what you mean here?

stflbn · #3 08-05-2011, 06:59 PM

So I sense you have a high opinion of active basses...

chuck3 · #4 08-05-2011, 07:10 PM

Just kidding about that part. But I'm serious about the original question. On probably 50% of the systems on which people hear music, it's very hard to hear any bass at all.

Well, maybe not completely kidding. I am thinking about an interactive process that boosts the bass on systems that need it. But I realize it wouldn't be the bass itself.

kb9wyz · #5 08-05-2011, 07:13 PM

Looking at the specs for small speakers and the fundamental frequencies of bass notes, and, well, something will not really be in the mix. That's just science.

Could be why P basses were and are so popular. Lots of mids that will come through on small speakers.

kaputsport · #6 08-07-2011, 01:40 AM

If the recording was done properly, you will hear the bass and it's over tones easily.

A regular 4 string is just one octave below guitar, which is not that much.

SLaPiNFuNK · #7 08-07-2011, 02:27 AM

When mixing, a good engineer will mix for all types of speakers, and even mix for MONO.

The main part you are going to hear on lo-fi systems (TV Speakers, Low end boom boxes) is the attack of the instrument. You won't hear much of the sub frequencies 20-100Hz

So you will hear the "Bass" as more of the attack, as well as the fundamental frequencies, just not here the air moving sub frequencies that go boom!

Dirk Diggler · #8 08-07-2011, 03:07 PM

You can't control or pander to the lowest common denominator of what people might listen to your music on. I agree that most common audio systems really lack low end big time. I've learned to accept it, and what else could you possibly do?

Don't even get me started on the way many bands mix bass to begin with.

Cheers,
Dirk

EricssonB · #9 08-07-2011, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

Don't even get me started on the way many bands mix bass to begin with.

Aww I was just starting to like the mid-scooped nu-metal bass.

JTE · #10 08-07-2011, 04:17 PM

Well, part of the way those old records sounded on cheap mono car speakers was that THE ARRANGEMENTS left room for the bass to come through. Listen to Motown records. There's simply nothing happening down there to compete with Jamerson/Babbitt/et. al. The kick drum isn't huge, the piano is seldom EQ'd to cover up the bass, and the guitars are way up above the bass range.

It's not the systems that cause the electric bass not to be heard, it's how the whole band sits in the mix. There's IMO too many people trying "cut through the mix" and that means there ain't no mix. Why does Metallica even have a bass player? Why does that stuff on the radio (don't know artists, but it's all synth, electronic drums, auto-tune vox, etc.) need a bass player? The low end is over amped and hyped to the point that you can't tell anything that's going on down there.

John

Munjibunga · #11 08-07-2011, 04:31 PM

I have a sub on my computer system, and I can even get a halfway decent mixdown with it. If you have only the little 2-inch speakers, though, forget it.

Ubersheist · #12 08-08-2011, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

When mixing, a good engineer will mix for all types of speakers, and even mix for MONO.

The main part you are going to hear on lo-fi systems (TV Speakers, Low end boom boxes) is the attack of the instrument. You won't hear much of the sub frequencies 20-100Hz

So you will hear the "Bass" as more of the attack, as well as the fundamental frequencies, just not here the air moving sub frequencies that go boom!

Well, most studios figure that mono is dead these days. The only place that I can think of where it's applicable is in a rare department store with a really old sound system. Surely there are more, but just about everyone's TVs are even stereo today. It's pretty rare to find anywhere that still uses mono.

However, you're dead right about mixing for all situations. One high end studio I went to recently had a crazy $20,000 Polonis studio monitor system. They also had their system set up to play back stuff on a crappy laptop. They'd also burn the song onto a disk and pop it in someone's car stereo, too, and play it on other systems hanging around in the studio.

lindseyp · #13 08-08-2011, 06:41 PM

What I have not seen posted is what I HAVE seen by consumers of different music genres. Those who like bass use systems that enhance it in various ways, be it an active subwoofer connected to a home system (me), various bass-enhancing systems used for cars (I always wanted an isobaric sub in a trunk) or headphones that enhance bass. Those who have other listening tastes tailor their sound systems accordingly. My car has no subs, but includes an 8-inch in both front doors plus a slight eq bump on the power amp centered around 40Hz to keep my windows flexing to the beat of urban Gospel music with NO rattles, 'cause that's the way I roll.